The lending industry has many different types of credit scores on the market today. Many different vendors have created them, such as Fair Isaac, the three national repositories, credit grantors, and insurance companies.

G. John Cento began his career as an attorney at the Indianapolis law firm of Katz & Korin, P.C., where he worked with Robert Schuckit. Trans Union was a client first of Schuckit, and then Katz & Korin when Schuckit joined the firm. Cento began representing Trans Union in 2001, and between 2003 and 2005 worked almost exclusively on Trans Union cases. Schuckit then left Katz & Korin in June 2005 to form his own law firm. Cento followed, but he stayed with Schuckit’s new firm for just a month.

A federal lawsuit has been filed against Experian in the United States District Court, Western District of Wisconsin, for merging the credit file of one individual with the credit file of another who share the same first and last name.

While applying for a mortgage, the plaintiff in the above mentioned case discovered that Experian had included no less than twenty-three (23) tradelines (bits of credit information) which did not belong to her on the credit report used to determine her credit worthiness. After being denied the loan, the plaintiff obtained her credit file from Experian. She then contacted an Experian representative by phone to dispute the inaccurate tradelines. The Experian representative confirmed that the tradelines in question belonged to another consumer and promised to have them removed from her credit file.

However, the information contained within the credit reports which Experian provided to the loan officer, is different than the information contained within the consumer report the plaintiff received when she requested her credit report from Experian. This is not uncommon. Rather it’s standard procedure.

The dispute process is critical to ensuring the accuracy of credit reporting, and to protecting the rights of the millions of consumers whose livelihoods, housing, insurance and access to credit depend on accurate reporting.

Identity theft has led to a federal lawsuit being filed against Citibank North America, Inc. (Citibank) and Experian Information Solutions, Inc. (Experian). Both Citibank and Experian are being sued for violating the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) because they reported fraudulent information (among other things) after it was disputed.

The case involves the plaintiff’s identity being stolen by a relative. The thief used plaintiffs identity to open two credit card accounts with Citibank.

4 Simple Steps on How to Dispute Inaccuracies on Credit Reports

Disputing inaccuracies on a credit report can be a daunting task. Following these step-by-step instructions will aid you in correcting credit reporting errors in the most timely manner possible:

Step 1: Obtain your free credit reports

Obtaining your credit report is the first step in disputing any inaccurate or wrong information which may appear on it. Federal law requires the three national credit reporting agencies, Equifax, Experian, and Trans Union, to provide you with a free credit report every year. Most likely, each of these credit reporting agencies has a credit file on you. Get all three of your credit reports.

The most common issues identified by consumers are problems with incorrect information on their credit reports.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) reports that 76 percent of consumers who filed complaints about credit reporting stated that they had incorrect information on their credit reports. The CFPB has handled approximately 185,700 credit reporting complaints since July 21, 2011, making credit reporting the third most-complained-about product. This is important to you because it means that there is a very good change your credit reports have inaccurate information on them. Inaccurate information can lead to increased interest rates, prevent you from getting a mortgage or buying a car, landing a job, or getting a security clearance.

Mixed credit reports are more common than you may realize. Your credit file may contain information belonging to someone else, and unless you look at your credit report, you may never know. Watch this short clip to learn more ...

Equifax is being sued for violated in Fair Credit Reporting Act

Earlier this year, Cento Law filed a complaint against Equifax for mixing the credit report of the plaintiff with information belonging to the plaintiff's father.

The plaintiff was first alerted to the mixed credit file when he was eighteen years old. At the time he was living at his parents and working. The alert came when he received a letter that was attached to his paycheck. The letter was from a county auditors office and its purpose was to inform the plaintiff that his wages were going to be garnished due to unpaid property taxes. Eventually the plaintiff learned that the property taxes in question were actually taxes levied against a man that he shared the same name with, his father.

As time went by, plaintiff was able to obtain a loan for a vehicle. He paid his loan on time with the hope of creating good credit. Two years later...

Your legal rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act

According to the FCRA, the credit reporting agencies, Equifax, Experian & Trans Union (also referred to as CRAs) must investigate your dispute. Upon receipt of your dispute, the CRAs have 30 days to complete their investigation and provide you with their findings. The law requires their findings to be accompanied by a free credit report. If their investigation led to the denial of your credit dispute, now is the time to seek legal counsel to enforce your legal rights.

John Oliver on the Credit Reporting Industry

Earlier this month, HBO's John Oliver of Last Week Tonight did a segment on credit reports. The segment highlights studies which report major problems in the credit reporting industry. The studies reveal that credit reports contain a shocking number of errors. One study found that 25% of consumers had errors in their credit reports. That means that 1 and 4 credit reports have an error. The study further states that 1 and 20 credit reports contain sufficient errors that would make a consumer pay more for a car loan or a mortgage. Credit report errors vary by type and may be serious enough to deny an application for credit, housing or employment.

Mixed Credit Reports

The credit reporting agencies collect information about you and store it in their databases. Equifax, Experian, and Trans Union all have their own database. This is why you have three different credit reports. The databases contain hundreds of millions of bits of raw data, referred to as credit files. Most consumers have more than one credit file. Credit files are used to generate credit reports. A mixed credit report is the result of a credit reporting agency’s inaccurate merging of credit information and/or an entire credit file belonging to one consumer into the credit report of another consumer.

When your credit history is requested, the credit reporting agencies sort though the millions of bits of electronic data stored within their databases. Search results defer depending upon the search terms used. For example: the results of a search for Jane Doe may vary from the results for a search for Jane A. Doe. ...

According to federal law, credit reporting agencies may report negative information on your credit report for a specific amount of time. The amount of time depends on the type of discrepancy. The times are as follows:

Bankruptcies can be reported for ten (10) years.

Civil suits, judgments, and records of arrest can be reported for seven (7) years.

Paid tax liens can be reported for seven (7) years from the date of payment.

Plaintiff in a class action lawsuit filed against Equifax in Virginia has successfully obtained class certification of her claims. The lawsuit alleges that Equifax misreported the status of certain state court judgments. The certified class consists of consumers who told Equifax of a disposed state court judgment before Equifax published an inaccurate report between February 2008 and February 2013.

Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio, has introduced the Stop Errors in Credit Use and Reporting (SECURE) Act to ensure that all have accurate information on their credit report to ensure they are being treated fairly.

According to the article published by Senator Brown, "[t]he SECURE Act would require credit reporting agencies to improve their processes for collecting

A new government study reports that over 40 million Americans have mistakes on their credit reports; and 20 million Americans have serious mistakes on their credit reports. Just before the government study was released, 60 Minutes aired a story about their investigation into the credit reporting industry. As explained by 60 Minutes, both the government study (which was conducted by the Federal Trade Commission and was the largest and most comprehensive such study ever done on the credit reporting industry) found these mistakes are often almost impossible to remove from your credit file.